With growing world demand, and difficulties with existing rubber plantation monocultures, there is an urgent world need for alternative, less labor-intensive sources of natural rubber as rubber is a strategic material which is irreplaceable in a variety of applications ranging from surgical gloves to aircraft tires.
For example, all tires made today come from raw latex that is harvested by hand in small cups from Brazilian rubber trees whose bark has been deliberately wounded. This process has not changed in over a century. This laborious effort is carried out almost exclusively in Southeast Asia, where economic development and environmental costs are increasingly making labor more expensive, and the business model less viable.
The monoculture of the Hevea brasiliensis tree (i.e., the rubber tree) is susceptible to devastating diseases and blights, which have occurred primarily in its native Brazilian habitat. Additionally, cultivation of Hevea has led to a number of environmentally degrading side effects, including the burning of rubberwood for energy needs, and the untreated discharge of latex rubber processing effluents.
World consumption of bulk rubber is forecast to increase four percent annually to 26.5 million metric tons in 2011, mainly due to the growth in Asian motor vehicle production. China is already the leading world consumer of rubber.
One million tons of Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) are imported annually for U.S. consumption, more than half of which is devoted to diverse dipped products (gloves, catheters, condoms, etc.). More than 40,000 products are made with NRL in the U.S., including 39 billion medical exam gloves and 800 million surgical gloves.
No alternative rubber crop has thus far had an integrated system for maximizing the value of all crop co-products. Corn and soybean are examples where such integrated production systems have been developed: both crops are fully utilized in thousands of food, industrial, and animal feed products, and in many cases, both food and industrial products are extracted from the crop in the same manufacturing facility.
Therefore, there remains a need to overcome one or more of the limitations in the above-described, existing art. The discussion of the background to the invention included herein is included to explain the context of the invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the claims.
It will be recognized that some or all of the Figures are schematic representations for purposes of illustration and do not necessarily depict the actual relative sizes or locations of the elements shown. The Figures are provided for the purpose of illustrating one or more embodiments of the invention with the explicit understanding that they will not be used to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.